Aftermath of an Afterlife
by The Person Who Rights
Summary: Vlad Masters makes a wish after a horrible dream. Now, his memory of the past 20 years missing, Vlad must attempt to live a life he doesn't know, and in the process is thrown into a bad situation.
1. Prologue

**AN:** Well, I'm new to DP fan fiction, but I have a lot of ideas. I'm going to stick with this one for now and see where it takes me, though, because frankly, my track record for finishing what I start is not good. But, it's the first day of my summer, and I think I have a shot at starting and ending something. This story is actually pretty much drama, and humor, but it's got a lot in between, like the slight angst in the very beginning. Also, I'm excepting at least some reviews in order to fuel an update!

**Aftermath of an Afterlife**

Prologue

"_No! Stay Away from him!"_

It's amazing how our mind loves to play tricks on us in our most vulernerable states, isn't it?

"_I'm sorry!"_

Guilt that would other wise be pushed to the back and packaged up in a façade of greed or lust for power,

"_Don't! Don't, Please!"_

Or Fear that refuses to manifest itself into careful thought, boiling in raw form somewhere deep in our hearts.

…_the boy was lost from view, into the monster's shadow…_

Amazing how real it can seem when these forces we keep buried deep, deep inside can rise up from the graves you've placed them in, can rise like ghosts to haunt you in your much weaker moments, isn't it?

"_Why?"_

Loss can change a man. Loss is possibly one of the most horrific and terrifying events in the world, not always because of the loss, but because of the changes to the surviving victim. Guilt, fear and loss can change a man forever.

…_the monster born loomed over it's former self, hissing…_

Into a beast full of hatred for anything and everything, a good man into a monster

…_A wavering cry, at the loss he was now witnessing…_

Into a broken man, a shell of all lost pride and hatred, a man just living on the same old lost dreams, just sticking to wallowing, and wishing

…_a horrible crimson stain on the cold, metal wall, a stone in the garden, and a wish…_

Funny, how we always revert back to a childish act in the middle of terror, real or imagined, and how there is always some dark malevolence waiting patiently for the chance to abuse your weak thoughts, isn't it?

…_A starry night, the kind the boy beneath the earth had wanted to explore... …someday…_

A wish, simple but elegant. Sad, isn't it, that the only time Vlad Masters wishes is in his dreams? The only time he ever dares to dream is when a nightmare comes to prey upon him.

_A shooting star, a broken plea_

"All I wish for is a second chance! I just want a chance to go back!" shouted Vlad Masters, shooting up from his large, comfortable bed lined with satin sheets and a spread of velvet. But before he got a chance to laugh at his nightmare, after realizing it wasn't real, he heard a voice penetrate the room.

"…So you have wished it, so shall it be…."

And everything got blurry, and he got very dizzy as something seemed to be ripped from him. Images flashed before his eyes, but before long, they all seemed unfocused and only slightly familiar.

He woke up again in the satin sheets with the velvet spread many hours later, when the sun was already high in the sky. Vlad couldn't shake the feeling that he was forgetting something, or the general feeling of something similar to a cloud of illness hovering over him, but he ignored that. What was he forgetting? What was so important about today? He was going to do something big today, something major.

Oh, yes of course. He, along with his best friends Madeline and Jack, would be activating their project for their paranormal sciences course, a working ghost portal.

That was today, right?

**A/N:** That's the prologue, first full chapter up soon. Please remember to review! I need motivation to continue.


	2. Between Ration and Panic

**A/N:** I really hope I can keep at least half as good of an update rate as this. I have stuff to deal with this summer, like my cousin's wedding (I went to the bachelorette party last night, and got major inspiration for a later chapter based off of the awkward dinner!), getting a job, learning to drive, etc. But although I have to deal with that, I'm hoping to complete this by mid-summer…

**Aftermath of an Afterlife**

Chapter 1: Between Ration and Panic

Vlad yawned, stretching out on his bed, noticing it was several times larger then he remembered it…And more comfortable! The sheets felt so much softer! What was going on? He threw the thought into the back of his mind, writing this off as the increased sleepiness he was currently floating in.

Anyway, he would mull over that thought later, because though he didn't have any classes today, (_thank-you long weekends!) _he knew Maddie would ream for oversleeping because of his long nights. He didn't mind the attention, not at all. Not from Maddie, but the thought of making her worry… It filled him with both guilt, and love for the woman.

Of course, he and Maddie were just friends. _Bitterly so_… but so all the same.

For some reason, he was groggier then normal. He always went to sleep around 2:26AM, give or take, and he knew last night had been no different. So why was he having trouble even focusing his eyes on anything?

Groggily, he reached for the glass of water he always kept right by his bedside. After a few grasps at air, he found his green and gold cup, and brought it carefully up to his parched lips. And then—

"**Butter Biscuits!**"

He was now fully awake, but more pre-occupied with the freezing ice-cold water he was drenched in. How did he manage to drop the glass? He _knew _he had a firm grip on it. He didn't even feel it slip.

"Geez… now I'm freezing!" he shouted to no one in particular. He tried swiping at the excess water, not caring if his bed was wet. "This is so wrong! I'm definitely going to be late now! Even _Jack_ is going to chew my head off now!" Sighing in defeat, he looked up from his soaked pajamas…

…and found himself lost in someone else's room…

A near panic-attack, a string of several snack-related exclamations, twenty-seven attempts to wake up, and a sigh later, Vlad Masters found himself pacing the room back and forth, trying to figure out where he was, without leaving the slightly creepy room.

He reasoned that he wasn't cowering in someone else's room afraid for his life, he was being rational. He could have been kidnapped in his sleep! Possibly by a psychotic old woman tired of cats and seeking a 20-year-old boy-toy. Not that Vlad was afraid of an old woman though. Not at all, but… If she happened to be guarding the door with a gun or booby-trapped the door or something… then it was best that he avoided harm until he could formulate a plan for escape.

Yes, he was being rational about this. He definitely was not scared. '_And, even if I _was_ scared… just a little tiny bit… then it's _quite_ understandable. After all, I'm_ only_ human, and this is my_ life _at stake…'_ he reasoned with himself.

"I'm definitely not scar—"

He was cut off by his foot getting caught by some unseen force that anchored it to the floor. It felt like his foot was _in_ the floor! He started breathing quickly, raggedly, like a bear caught in a trap. All ration was abandoned for the sake of pure terror, as he tried violently to rip his leg up from the carpet, keeping his other, free leg firmly planted on the floor.

After several attempts, he found himself face down on the floor, once again trying to fight the panic that had overtaken him moments before. His foot had gotten free, but only after his other leg buckled under the force. He would ignore that he only buckled after he thought his leg phased through the floor. He was a rational man, and that wasn't rational.

"_Neither is your psychotic, kidnapping granny theory."_

"Shut up!" Vlad shouted as loudly as possible in response. After scanning the room, he realized that he was still alone. Eyes still darting across the room, looking for anywhere the voice could have come, anything to prove his sanity wasn't deteriorating. He backed up, and sat on the edge of the comfortable, but foreign bed, putting his knees up to his chest and wrapping his arms tightly around his legs.

"Oh sweet saccharin…" he whispered to himself quietly. "I'm going completely insane." He blinked a few times, his eyes burning slightly. For the first time, he looked out the window beside him, and saw nothing but forest for miles around. '_Great. I'm on the edge of insanity in someone else's house in the middle of the woods…'_

And then, he noticed something else in the window, but not tree-filled view. Barely visible, but visible all the same, staring back at him was an older man with stark white hair and dark lines under his blue eyes.

Hand now shaking ever so slightly, he reached behind his back, grabbing hold of his ponytail. Bringing it to the front, he stared in utter shock at the white hair in his hands.

"This isn't happening! This isn't possible!" he shouted angrily at whatever could hear him—ghosts, gods, kidnapping grannies—whatever was to blame him for the situation he was now in!

"…_Jack Fenton…"_

Vlad decided to ignore the voice this time completely. Instead, he jumped from the edge of the giant bed and ran straight for the door, tripping again like he had before, but this time he shook away the feeling of falling through the floor, throwing himself at the door as he fell.

He ripped his hand for the knob, and ignored that his hand went through three times before he caught it in his grip, running as fast as he could, away from the foreign bed in someone else's creepy room, ignoring his previous fear of the rest of the house. He stumbled into the dark hall, dashing like a mad man to find an exit from this place.

Something stopped him dead in his tracks, though. As he turned a corner, he found himself by a stairwell, which was really great, but before he even noticed that was there, he found himself staring at a wall.

Well, more precisely, it was what was _on_ the wall, painted on. A man with a strict face, bright white hair tired into ponytail behind him, blue eyes full of dignity. He wore a business suite, and though this was only a mural, both the portrait and the man depicted radiated wealth.

However, surrounding the portrait were two others of the same man, identical in every way to each other, both depicted the same man, only now at the turn of a hall with a look of drowsiness, fear and confusion. It wasn't until a quick movement and a yelp later that he realized that these were mirrors cast onto him. But… he looked so old…?

It had to be someone else. It was a window maybe! With the little old kidnapping granny's son or something imitating his every moment. That had to be it. There was no possible way that that was hi—

"_That's** you**, you _**idiot**_!"_

Vlad was _seriously_ pondering his sanity at this point.

**AN:** This chapter was supposed to be much longer, actually, but I've decided that breaking this chapter into two parts would be better, and it would seem much less rushed. I was not liking the part written after this, so I decided to cut this chapter right here. Half of the next chapter is already written, so don't worry about a slow update.

And Remember! Reviews are very, very much appreciated, and I'll try to respond to everyone if I can. Thanks!


	3. Between the Halls and Ominous Drafts

**AN:** Well, first of all, since I've forgotten so far, I would like to announce that this fic's subject matter is now _disclaimed._ My name is not "Butch Hartman", or "smug executive in charge of Nickelodeon." On another note, I have a chapter naming system now, unless I get bored of it!

**Aftermath of an Afterlife**

Chapter 2: Between the Halls and Ominous Drafts

"_That's** you**, you **idiot**!"_

Vlad took in the voice's words, and approached the mirror. Looking himself over, he contemplated what all of this meant. Though there was this light feeling all over his body, a strange malaise that seemed to float over him, he felt completely awake. This was no dream, but… where was he? And why in the world did he look so old, and so different?

He had _white hair_, lines under his eyes, and how old was he, exactly? Forty? So, what happened to _half of his life_? Although waking up in strange beds and hearing voices was not in any way shape or form normal, this could not be possible. You did not wake up and discover you lost twenty years of your life! That only happened in fairy tales! Who was he, anyway? Huck Finn? _No… wait, was it Rumplestilschen? The guy who slept a long time? _

And why were there so many pictures of him everywhere? Someone was really obsessed with him…

It really didn't make a single ounce of sense…at all. Again, he found himself thinking about an old granny recently escaped from some psychiatric ward, having murdered the Wisconsin Dairy King and moved into his castle, found a forty something business man, gave him amnesia using Voodoo, and then planned to convince him that he was her husband, but it failed because his memory of his first twenty years of life remained and he knew he would never marry an old crazy lady.

"_Are you serious?"_

"Yes, so shut up! If you're going to talk at least be helpful and tell me what's going on, if not, then shut the hell up and let me figure things out! Got it?" he shouted at the supposed voice inside his head. It stayed silent, thankfully. "Ok, then."

'_Now then,_ Vlad reviewed. _I need to figure out: where exactly I am, how much time has past since college, who I can trust, why I feel so off balance and lightheaded, what could have caused my memory loss or caused me to be transplanted into the future, whatever it is that happened, and finally, I need to fix this.'_

'_Ok, so where am I? A rather large house with lots of pictures of me, obviously, but whose house is this, anyway.'_

"_Fool! This is your house, don't you remember that?"_

"Ok, I'll believe you. I live here. Fine." Vlad spoke his words hurriedly, trying to prevent an actual conversation with this being.

So, although every piece of reason he had told him that he couldn't trust _the voices in his head, _he wasn't fully listening to ration. Though, at the very least terror had left him, he was struck with curiosity. If this was his house some undeterminable amount of time in the future, then at least he could know what kind of person he was going to be, or was, or whatever. Looking around, he found several other portraits of himself, in all of them it seemed he was doing_ something_ important, though Vlad had no clue what.

And then, there was a picture he recognized, it was a group picture, taken at the beginning of the freshman year (he didn't care if this was decades in the future, as far as he was concerned that was a few semesters back). He, Jack, and Maddie had posed for the picture, on the very first day of college (they had all met at a visitation of the campus while still high school juniors and the three bonded like glue). Oddly, the picture had been cut so that Jack was no longer in the picture. He couldn't help but think that was a little freaky. Actually, more then a little freaky, it was actually quite a creepy thing to do. Jack was more then a little annoying at times, everyone knew that, but he couldn't possible hate the man enough to cut him out of the picture. Jack was his best friend, so why would he--

**DING DONG!**

His eyes widened as he realized that someone was ringing a door bell somewhere in outside the house. If this was his house, then they were expecting him to open the door, right? Open up and let them in? That was what people did, right? Of course it was…

**DING DONG! DING DONG!**

"I-I'm coming, just a moment!" he shouted as loud as he could, praying this house wasn't so big that they couldn't hear him. He took the steps carefully, remembering how much trouble he had had merely walking around his room. '_My room? I can't believe I'm listening to the voice… This is probably some kind of freakish prank… or I have amnesia… or what if—'_

**DING DONG**

**DING DONG**

**DING DONG**

'_I don't even know where the door is!' _He screamed inwardly, taking up a jogging pace throughout the house, searching for the entrance.

Well, this was not going right at all. Vlad was lost. In what was supposedly his own house. How in the world does that happen?

**DING DONG!**

Passing through halls and rooms as fast as he could, he passed many more portraits of himself, though none of them triggered any kind of reaction. He had no real response toward them, other then the brief thought that all of my walls being covered in his own likeness, alone, was a little creepy. Like some creepy, bitter, lonely, single, egotistical hermit. He snickered a little bit at the insane thought. He had expected to, oh, he didn't know, have some kind of deja-vu, but nothing came. He needed… A clue as to where the heck he was…

**DING DONG**

**DING DONG**

…And although he was wondering what utter joy he would be facing when this person entered…

**DING DONG**

**DING DONG**

**DING DONG**

…and though of course he knew there were fun times ahead talking to someone with not knowing what had happened in the past few _years_…

**DING DONG**

**DING DONG**

**DING DONG**

**DING DONG**

**DING DONG**

…Vlad was mostly contemplating the best way to strangle the ringer…

**DING DONG**

**DING DONG**

**DING DONG**

**DING DONG**

**DING DONG**

**DING DONG**

**DING DONG**

**DING DONG**

Oh this person was going to **_pay_**!

_**SMASH!**_

Vlad stopped for a moment, the sound puzzling him. He was glad that the ringing had stopped… but, what was that—

"Oh… my…Lord …."

Vlad found himself in what he could only describe as the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. The colors, the design… it was breath-taking, mesmerizing.

It was the biggest Packers shrine that Vlad had ever laid his eyes on.

"…_Oh good Lord…"_

Autographs and Posters and Green and Gold galore! Murder the doorbell-ringer plans completely forsaken, Vlad drifted from display to display at a quickening pace, speeds he had not thought possible in even the most sugar-high four-year-olds, let along a groggy displaced twenty-year-old in a body aged twice. But that did not stop Vlad from spanning the long hall within roughly two seconds, seeing how much there was.

Suddenly, all the extremely disturbing thoughts about his apparently creepier older self's house were gone. This had to be his home.

Then, he saw something behind the glass, a newspaper article, with "Let him Buy the Packers!" in big, bold news type. Leaning against the cool glass, he began to read, only to find his support gone and his head coming ever closer to the yellowing paper. He jumped back, staring at the glass he had just slipped though. He was going to figure this out now. He was going to figure out why things kept slipping out of his fingers, and he would do it right now!

Or, at least he would have, had not something large and orange collided right into him fast and hard like something from a horror movie, he was down face to face with the gold an green tiles, and although the fall didn't hurt nearly as much as it should have, he found himself both afraid and annoyed at the same time at this mysterious attacker.

"VLADDY!"

Ok, Vlad definitely knew even after twenty years of blank space what he was in for now, and now he was just annoyed. Then, the room went cold. Red and white sneakers stepped in front of his view, and their owner bent down to Vlad's level, with what Vlad could only describe as a truly vengeful and sadist grin. Vlad shuttered slightly at the boy's hate-laced voice (not to even mention the rather chilling air that seemed to surround the icy-blue eyed teen)

"Nice Pajamas,_ Uncle Vlad_. So, did you get that _cat_ yet?"

Oh, OK, so the fear was back, and he didn't know what he was in for.

* * *

**AN:** That was actually much more difficult to write then I ever thought it would be. My need for daily angst kept getting in the way during writing time. But, at least I have one one-shot and a scene for a future fic planned out thanks to it. Also, my mom bought me pretty explosives! That's probably going to effect this story somewhere up the road. Also, Danny will probably be slightly OOC, but that's only because he's being seen through the POV of Vlad. And Plus, I thought of Vlad being afraid of Danny and thinking he's sadist and cruel is hillarious. 


	4. Between Jack and Maddie

**AN: **I'm sooo sorry about the giant gap between updates! Let me just put it this way, New York Trip, Camping Trip, Cousin's Wedding, flood, limited Computer Access in-between. I didn't realize that I would be spending a week at my dad's place, I thought that I would be out for two days and then back. It doesn't help that I now have a case of the plot bunnies. A bad one… Basically, I have an idea for about twenty things that aren't this chapter, and only one involving this story. Anyway, to speed up the process of writing, I'm listening to all of my music at 3x the speed. "Another side, Another Story: Deep dive" sounds awesome like that!

**Aftermath of an Afterlife**

Chapter 3: Between Jack and Maddie

"Nice Pajamas,_ Uncle Vlad_. So, did you get that _cat_ yet?"

The boy's voice rang into the room as Vlad Masters did his best to interpret what exactly was occurring here. The kid–who Vlad wasn't sure if he was even in his teen years yet—made no effort to help him off of the ground, though Jack was now off of his back. So instead, shaking the strange foreboding chills the boy's voice sent through his spine, Vlad pushed himself up off of the floor, unsure of exactly what was going on, who the child was, what a frightening boy like him was doing hanging around cheerful air-headed Jack Fenton, or why either of them were here.

_'Alright Masters, just be rational, and figure things out, ok? Ignore the little creep, Jack should lend you some clues if you say the right things. Hopefully he hasn't changed'_

"Oh Jack, it is so nice to see you again! How are you doing?" asked the White-haired man in the striped pajamas. Only now looking down did he notice that he was still wet from the water that had slipped through his hands earlier. He could only imagine what he looked like to the visitors.

"Fantastic! Why, we've even been working on this new invention. You see it's designed to suck the energy right out of a ghost and shoot the energy back at them. You see, at first…."

Vlad stopped paying attention to the large man, and instead focused on the boy, listening only for any clues that the man had changed the topic to something useful. Ghosts…. That was just so Jack, ignoring every thing important and real for hypothetical beings.

Vlad felt a twinge of anger very, very deep inside of him. '_Jack just doesn't seem to notice anything if it doesn't involve ghosts or snacks… He never even used to notice poor Maddie when she had that crush on him! He's is such an _idiot_!' _As quickly as the thought came it was gone. Jack was his best friend, and Vlad hated thinking like that about him… _'even if it is true'_

Instead, Vlad observed the little creep. He seemed rather bored by the entire topic, although his eyes didn't rest. They stayed surveying the room, as if he expected something to randomly jump straight through the walls and attack him. Looking him over, Vlad could see that the boy was in the process of going through puberty, so his original estimate that the boy was not yet a teenager was probably off. Still, he was much shorter then either Vlad or his Fat friend, and Vlad couldn't mistake for the life of his the frail body structure and dark circles under his blue eyes that all seemed to point to exhaustion. He still had a child's face, though his eyes were sharp and keener then he would expect on one.

So… he wasn't quite sure how old the boy was… maybe thirteen?

"…Jazz is absolutely wonderful with the lighter artillery weapons, but she just doesn't ever seem interested in going ghost hunting with me! I try to get her to go with me all the time, but…" Jack droned on. The amnesiac could only guess who "Jazz" was. Younger, seemingly close. Vlad was going to go with girlfriend for now, because wife or daughter seemed too far off.

'_There is no way in hell that Jack Fenton can get a woman to take a diamond ring from him, let alone stand in front of pews of people and say she was willing to be with him forever.' _ Vlad thought with a chuckle to himself. Oddly enough, this received a deep, angry glare from the little creep. That was when Vlad began listening to Jack again.

"But even though Danny here can't handle any fragile equipment at school or in our lab, he does know how to work the important weaponry. No son of mine is afraid of ghosts! Why during one major ghost attack since your last visit, Danny put together a rescue mission all by himself!" the man bellowed with great pride welling up in his eyes. Vlad could have swore he saw a tear.

'_This is Jack's son? But he's nothing like Jack! Whoever his mother is, he must take after her, body wise and personality wise.' _Vlad wasn't even going to get into the thought of what kind of woman would get engaged and married to the great man, let alone do something to have children with the man. Jack may have been his friend, but the thought made Vlad shudder.

His thoughts were interrupted by a source he had not been expecting at all, peeking her beautiful, unmistakable face through the doorway.

"Jack, sweetie, I can't find the spare Fenton Thermos. Have you seen it?" asked Maddie.

"I'm sure it's out in the Fenton Family Ghost Assault Vehicle. I didn't take it."

The little creep, or, Danny, fidgeted with something behind his back, his face even paler then before, but just a little.

But Vlad didn't notice this. He didn't notice as Jack started screaming about ghosts stealing his thermos out of spite. If he had, he probably would have laughed at the ridiculous sight of the red head in the blue hazmat suit trying to calm down the behemoth before he broke it. He might have noticed the raven-haired teen with his hand behind his back, and the other shielding his beat-red face from the world. He might have felt for the poor boy for having such a living situation. He might have cared, if the mother of the boy wasn't the only thing on his mind. He would have cared if she wasn't the one in the spandex with threatening the man with the big bat with the word "Fenton" on it.

_Maddie is Jack's wife? That's her son?_

…_wait…_

"_**WHAT?"**_

But… Jack was an idiot. Why would someone as smart and beautiful and talented and pretty marry Jack?

This was just too much to handle. Jack and Maddie's son was staring at him, analyzing him with cold blue eyes but he didn't care. There shouldn't have been a Jack and Maddie's son. The boy shouldn't exist. Jack shouldn't have been getting a hug from the precious Madeline. Maddie shouldn't have let him put his arms around her like that. And Jack should not have had his face moving closer to hers! She should have slapped him, or gave him a funny look! She shouldn't have moved her head closer! She should have moved her head back!

They shouldn't be kissing in the lonely hallway of a lonely man who lived alone. And that man shouldn't have been Vlad Masters. He didn't want the house or the money. He wanted Maddie to stop kissing that man. He would give up everything he owned, even the clothes on his back, or the memories of the first twenty years of his life if she would just stop kissing Jack and look at him. Just look at Vlad for one second, and he would have been happy. Just remember Vlad, and Vlad would die happy. Just remember him! Please, he was begging anyone out there to stop them.

"_It just kills you, doesn't it?"_

The voice was cold, dark, and not the same one he'd been hearing, telling him he was an idiot for his deranged granny theories, though the effect was the same. It had the same way of penetrating his very soul and sending even more of those chills up his spine. This was the voice of a teenager though. A little creep who by all standards of reasoning he never thought would exist, The son of Jack and Maddie Fenton.

He turned to look at the boy, trying to hide the fear of his face. The little creep (David, Daryl, Danny… it didn't matter one bit to Masters what his name was supposed to be) was smirking at him, and Vlad could have swore for a moment his eyes flashed a bright glowing, neon green.

He shook it from his thoughts, though. He was glad for his sanity that his best friends from college had stopped kissing, though it had been very tame, but tender. Again, his brain was reeling at the mere thought of the two as a couple.

'_Did anyone know this was going to happen?' _

He was shaken from his thoughts by Maddie calling his name reaching out for him, well, saying his name anyway, while shaking his arm a bit. He'd like to pretend there was worry and concern there, but it would still be pretending. She had an eyebrow raised.

"Oh, sorry. I didn't sleep well last night, I must have gotten a little spacey."

"Err… Right. Anyway, Jack and I," the amnesiac held back a shudder at that, "just wanted to talk you again for volunteering to do this for us."

"I don't mind going to Gettysburg, Mom," scoffed the little creep, voice devoid of much emotion except slight anger.

"Sweetie, you know how the equipment tends to malfunction around you, and this isn't like the ghosts in Amity Park, this one is even stronger then the ones back home, and I don't want you getting hurt by any ghosts, sweetie."

The boy scoffed at that. "I wouldn't mind saying home."

"Two weeks is a long time sweetie."

"I could stay over the Mansons'."

"No!" shouted both of the ghost hunting couple.

"Sweetie, we've talked about this…"

"And I never agreed on this."

"Danny, your mother and I are just going to Pennsylvania to kick some ghost butt!"

"And you're staying here with Vlad for the next two weeks while we're gone."

Vlad didn't hear the little creep's mumblings of no anniversary presents, Walker, Jazz, summer camp, and Plasmius. He was not aware of his slack jaw, or even the words that spilled out of his mouth next.

"Wait, what?"

AN: Again, I'm so sorry this took so long! Anyway, it's now 4:30 in the AM, and I need sleep. Review. It makes this late-night stuff worthwhile.


	5. Between One Room and the Next

AN: I have a bad feeling I'm going to get Danny out of character. I just know it. BTW, I want to murder this chapter. I wish it was a smoking hole in the ground, I really do. But before you read this… thing, I want to say "HOLY CRAP! 30 REVEIWS! AWESOME! 13 ALERTS AND 12 FAVORITES! I'VE BEEN C2ED! WOOT! THANKYOU, THANKYOU, THANKYOU! SQUEEEEE! HUGS!"

**Aftermath of an Afterlife**

Chapter 4: Between One Room and the Next

He wanted to leave…

Now!

But, he refused to move from the random room he'd picked to throw his stuff in. He couldn't leave, because Vlad was obviously planning something major. Between Jazz getting an all expenses paid trip to a summer-long college fair, the recent ghost attacks on Amity Park, the sudden appearance of several ghosts throughout Pennsylvania and New Jersey that his parents couldn't refuse checking out (especially when the falling boxes caused some serious injury)….

And with the latest ongoing feud between the Fentons' and Mansons' adults that was triggered by some gossip the Mansons had heard from their rich friends, it was a pretty solid plot to keep the young teenager in the Wisconsin Mansion.

There was no way Vlad hadn't planned for an escape, either. So running was not an option. But sitting here in this mansion left to nothing but his own thoughts was not good for his mental health.

He was barely able to talk with Sam without her parent's monitoring, Jazz was busy with the normal smart rich people at that stupid camp, and the Foley's were off visiting obscure relatives and Tucker was along for the ride now that the Fenton grand cross country trip was abandoned.

He was stuck here with no one to talk to.

Sure, he _could have _tried calling Valerie, but Vlad probably had the mansion bugged and signals blocked anyway. And he didn't doubt Val was part of this evil plot.

He really just wanted to phase out of the outer walls and fly back to Fenton Works.

…But Danny couldn't leave a scheming Vlad Plasmius alone…

Lying in the far-too-soft bed, Danny still felt as if his blood was ever-so-slowly running cold. There was something to be said about Danny Fenton: he hadn't hated any single person in his entire life, but he didn't really consider _Vlad_ a _person_. Not usually, anyways.

That man had proven himself to be the most sub human slime he had ever met. Cold, calculating, not warm or feeling. The only true emotion that he'd ever seen from the man was bitter jealousy. Only the fact that he seemed to hate so strongly was the only thing keeping the fourteen year old from coming to the conclusion that this man was incapable of emotion.

What bothered Danny was that his parents had been friends with this man. His father thought that he was the most wonderful person in the world. His mother had similar sentiments until their trip courtesy of the "DALV" group. Had he once been a decent person? Or was he just a little less twisted?

_Why did the only person just like me have to be a crazed up fruitloop? _

Now there was a depressing thought. Danny listened for a way to avoid the stream of endless thoughts that would keep going on and on without a distraction. It was like slowly going insane, and he already felt he was on his own. Vlad never helped him. Vlad made it worse, tried to push him harder and harder until he broke. That was probably what he was doing right now.

'_Creep.'_

He could hear his hated host pacing on the floor above him.

Talk about odd. Vlad Masters didn't walk like that. Don't laugh, the fourteen year old had never been able to hear Vlad walk unless the man was trying to impress someone, to make an entrance.

Obviously, the man was doing this to annoy him.

Two could play at that game.

Vlad Masters was an amnesiac, roughly forty, and now in charge of a little creep of roughly thirteen, who changes the temperate of a room by entering and plays a mean staring contest. This was the son of Vlad's college sweetheart who he had been in love with since he had met her, and the father of the little creep was none other then Vlad's _best_ friend from college, and by all accounts his _only_ friend.

That was a depressing thought.

And it didn't help that he couldn't remember when this relationship had started, or what he was doing when it happened.

It was odd, though. None of this looked futuristic in anyway. He just now realized that the future, judging by the Fenton family, was not what people had predicted. No one was running around in rubber suits with plasma guns! Well, Jack and Maddie were two for two, but they were Jack and Maddie.

'…_Uh-uh, you went and mad yourself sad again…Dangit, Masters!"_

"Jack Fenton and my precious Maddie Masters? Errr… Maddie Fenton," he murmured to himself, pacing the room he had waken up in, after having spent a good thirty minutes trying to find it again. He never was very good with recognizing his surroundings, so it was a miracle he had found it at all. But that was besides the point. "…Maddie Fenton…"

"_It sounds wrong, doesn't it?"_

"Yes, yes it does."

He didn't really care about the voices in his head now. Yes, voices. As in multiple ones. Vlad couldn't believe it himself. This one was the original voice, the only one he was actually able to carry on a conversation with. The others were more disembodied and seemed more like memories of unknown events. Some were people he knew, others seemed familiar, but he didn't know them. Or, he didn't remember.

Sometimes, a few seconds of memory would flash in front of his eyes, but it was never enough to tell what he was seeing. Sometimes it was as a flash of light, sometimes accompanied by a "Bonsai!" or "Bogus!" but it never made any sense. It was never enough to trigger anything.

'_Well, there is the cold, spine-tinglyness of it, but… It's probably nothing…'_

"_Are you trying to be a complete moron?"_

He probably was a complete moron. Afterall, Maddie and Jack? Why them, why each other? Why did Maddie prefer Jack to him? Why would Jack steal away Maddie? How could that have happened? There was that ever so small crush that Maddie had harbored once upon a blue moon ago (or, longer now, he supposed)… But had _anyone_ seen this coming?

"_Well…"_

"_Look at them out there chasing each other, laughing like that. I bet those two are just going to fall on top of each other and start making out at any second," said the girl sitting next to him on the bench, bitterness heavy in her voice. "Hold this; I'm getting my camera ready."_

"_What are you talking about? Harry, _**make-out**_? What _the hell_ is wrong with you? Jack and Maddie? Please."_

"_What, you don't see the googly eyes they give each other _all_ the _time_? You're clueless, Masters."_

"_Grow up, that's disgusting. Jack is too much of an idiot for Maddie. She needs an intelligent partner, not some moron who'll blow things up and ask for cookies."_

"_Wow, I never knew you actually had it in you to call your_ only_ friend an idiot."_

"_Please. Besides, Maddie is my friend too, and you're… well you're something. Besides Jack _**is**_ a complete moron."_

_The reporter-in-training's eyes gleamed with the thought of some ensuing drama. "Those are fighting words, Vladdie."_

"_Come on, Harry, Maddie will never get with Jack. It's never going to happen. How can you see that as even a small possibility? _

"_That was two semesters before you lost your memory, idiot."_

OK, so everyone knew. Boy, that made him feel so special…

Not that it answered anything.

It didn't matter if there had been some kind of attraction there. He wanted to know **why **it was there. **Why **had it blossomed into love? Why did they forget about him? Why did they betray him, leave him all alone. It made no sense. Why did they move so far from Wisconsin, Why did he stay? Why hadn't he done something to stop this; why on earth hadn't he tried to stop it?

Vlad Masters was not on the verge of tears. He was simply a scientific man seeking out answers as to how an unlikely phenomenon had occurred. He was not sad or losing it. He wasn't considering smashing that light either.

The lamp was not on the floor in many pieces.

If anyone has told you otherwise about these events is a liar who is simply bitter and jealous, and if you should see Vladimir Masters, please give him this person's name and address so he can respectfully discuss the evils of telling fibs.

Vlad sighed, throwing himself against the wall of what apparently was his own forgotten bedroom. He had not expected a muffled crash to come from the other side of the wall, however.

Examining the wall, he was unable to find any closet door, which mean whatever he just broke was in the adjoining room. He really didn't want to move, but after a few moments he sighed and pushed himself from the wall, and walked out into the hallway.

But he couldn't find anything in the adjoining room that was broken. And, again, there was no door leading to a closet, but he was pretty sure there was another room in between. This really wasn't his concern, but it was getting his mind off of other matters that he had _not_ been near-tears over.

Of course, it was always possible that something inside the wall had shaken lose.

What if there was something walled in there? Like secret treasure or something! Ok, so it was a kidish idea, but still, thoughts of being famous and wealthy were…

Oh yeah, he was rich and wealthy. Or at least his future self was.

Unless… What if this wasn't his house in the future? What if, in the middle of the night they drugged him, knocked him out, forced him here in a Hollywood set, used make-up effects to age him, and then forced Maddie and Jack to pretend they were in love. And they forced Maddie to cut her hair, and once again used make-up magic to make them appear older. And they hired the little creep to pretend he was their son, and he was insane and sadistic and forced them to kiss, all in an attempt to freak him out, orchestrated by a freaky old woman and her twenty cats who wants nothing more then to watch twenty-year-old business students suffer emotional trauma, and she was watching all of this through the mirrors! They were actually one-way windows. No, It was all being filmed! And he had just accidentally broken a camera or a piece of sound equipment. In fact, he was probably hooked up to a device that was sending him messages; the director of the whole thing was speaking to him though an earpiece!

He wasn't an insane, voice-hearing nut!

"_I'm not even going to go there."_

He sighed. Maybe if he could figure out what had happened earlier, how his hand had managed to go though things, he could get to whatever was on the other side. He faced the barrier between him and whatever was there. Maybe if he concentrated he could go though the wall. After all, that wasn't so far-fetched in whatever mixed up universe he had found himself in.

But going though ways was insane. He was insane. What if he had imagined all of that before. What if he was hallucinating?

He shivered. He didn't like any of this. …Jack and Maddie in love, voices and hallucinations, and caring for their incredibly sadistic little creep of a son…

He dropped that line of thought and tried to concentrate.

'_1…'_

'_2…'_

'_3…'_

'_And…'_

He ran straight into the wall, and the next thing he knew he was on the ground. On his back. In the same room he had woke up in. With a splitting headache.

And, of course, a thin, pubescent boy was laughing his head off.

"Silence!" Vlad shouted at the little creep, though it seemed more like a reflex to him then something he said, feeling a very strange sensation surge though him. It wasn't painful, but it felt as if someone else stepped into his body for a moment. But as quickly as if came it was gone. It didn't matter, because the little creep had stifled his laughter. He was still smirking though, his feet going straight through the bits of what-was-once-a-lamp on his trip to the door, obviously still trying to hold in a giggle-fit.

Wait… his feet went right though all that glass? Wait...

No, no way. He was hallucinating again. He just had to get out of the room, that's all. He just needed to get out of that room.

"So then, who's up for pancakes?"

He didn't even know if he had any…

'_It's my favorite food, I'm wealthy, I can afford this oversized hunk of I-hope-something-bad-didn't-happen-that-I-need-to-compensate-for, I can stomach living here alone, I'm in a bad mood, and it's the only thing I can cook without fire hoses and hazmat suits. We had better have pancakes.'_

AN: Wow, that sucked. That sucked more then the suckiest thing to have ever come from the suckiest planet where all suck was first spawn. The entire chapter is trash, but I'm long overdue for an update. Writer's block has prevented this chapter from being anything like it was supposed to be. And the thing that kills me is I actually had a small break in my block earlier today, but for the first time in three weeks I was too busy to write.

Oh well, it's longer and not up to par with other chapters, but at least I'm not going to lose anymore sleep over this chapter.

And Vlad and Danny dialogue is extremely hard to write. That last bit with Danny watching Vlad run into the wall was rewritten several times to try to make it sound like a normal conversation between the two, but with Vladdie none the wiser. So, we get Danny too hysterical to speak. A cop-out, but considering I'm so tired I can't even remember the first three quarters of this chapter, or how to keep my eyes open….

Well, please review, and I'll try to get the next chapter out soon. I have ideas for that one that probably won't be 100 different then planned, and it's 20 less Fillerific


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